Slow motion

IDOT wont buy Harrisburg building right away

State transportation officials and Gov. Rod
Blagojevich have maintained that the purchase of a Harrisburg building
where the governor wants to move IDOT's traffic-safety division would
not be made for at least 50 days after documents were submitted to the
12-member legislative Commission on Government Forecasting in accordance
with state law.

September 11, marks day 50, but it's not clear
when IDOT will make the purchase, or whether the administration will await
the outcome of a legal challenge to the proposal. In August, following a
lengthy hearing, the 12-member panel rejected the proposal.

After Blagojevich indicated plans to go ahead with
the relocation in spite of the recommendation, Springfield civic leaders
including mayor Tim Davlin, state Reps. Raymond Poe and Rich Brauer, state
Sen. Larry Bomke, and several labor and business organizations, filed a
lawsuit to block the move of the facility along with about 150 jobs.

However, the first scheduled court hearing on the
matter was pushed back until Sept. 25. Blagojevich spokesman Brian
Williamsen wouldn't say if the state would attempt to buy the
property before then, just that there's no specified date on which
they plan make the purchase.

"We will follow all rules and procedures but
our plan is to still move forward," Williamsen says.

Calling it an opportunity to save state taxpayers
money while stimulating the economy of Saline County, which ranks among the
highest in unemployment, the governor wants to forgo leasing the IDOT Annex
for $1.7 million per million and purchase and renovate a site in southern
Illinois now belonging to Southeastern Illinois College Foundation for
$1.56 million.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Blagojevich,
IDOT secretary Milton Sees, state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, and
Comptroller Dan Hynes, argue that the sale can not go through until the
attorney general approves title.

They also raise concerns that the building is in a
floodplain, that motor fuel taxes may be used to fund the purchase, and
that the agency failed to search for any other sites in historic or central
business districts.

Blagojevich rarely lets the threat of a lawsuit or
questions about the legality of his actions stand in the way, however.

Don Craven, attorney for the plaintiff group,
says Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who is defending Blagojevich and other
state officials, reassured him that her office would not sign off on the
building purchase before the Sept. 25 hearing. "I asked if anything
bad was going to happen and they said no," Craven says, meaning that
the sale likely won't go through until his Springfield clients have
their day in court.

Scott Mulford, a spokesman for Madigan, declined to
comment about the lawsuit but says the law is clear about the attorney
general needing to approve title for real estate purchases. The
Public Contract Fraud Act prohibits the expenditure of funds without first
having a title. Violating the act is a misdemeanor.